The invention relates to a retainer for sliding universal joints, for example of the tripod type, especially for automobile transmissions, which have an interior element coupled to a drive shaft and composed of a hub with at least two trunnions supporting rollers which seat in roller tracks of a bowl shaped exterior element fixed to a driving shaft and in which bearing means, such as needle or roller bearings are provided between the rollers and the trunnions.
The interior assembly of such joints is difficult to handle and is particularly difficult to transport as an assembly. In effect, it is difficult to transport this interior assembly as a single unit composed of the hub and its trunnions (usually three), with the rollers on the trunnions. This difficulty arises because the needle bearings between the rollers and the trunnions can fall out or escape very easily during manipulation and mounting of this assembly on the drive shaft or in the exterior bowl element of the joint.
Various solutions to this problem have already been suggested, but they are not entirely satisfactory, because they require special machining of the tripod or spider.